Living with Tommy Newton

It was a regular Wednesday morning for Andy. She opened the record store, placed the new LP's out, and waited for new customers to accidentally stumble upon the small store. Her life had always been that way since she refused a job at her father's practice. She continued to think it was the right choice; that refusing to perform surgery on helpless people and animals, that were supposedly alien life forms, was the right thing to do. The question weather she made the best choice nibbled at her brain like termites ate wood. It just wouldn't leave her alone.

While organizing the records, a strange man in a long white coat came into the store and began browsing through the shelves of Sinatra 45's. She recognized the strange man very well. He turned around and flashed his dazzling white teeth and then walked over to her.

"Are you Andromeda Parks? He asked nonchalantly.

"Yes, and you are?"

The man held out his right hand as he spoke. "I'm Dr. Harmon. I work with your father …you probably don't remember me."

"No, I don't. I'm sorry, but I don't want a job." she said while shaking his hand.

"Well, Ms. Parks, unfortunately you have no choice. You see, we are working with NASA on this project," he started. "And we all decided you will be helping us."

Andy glared at the doctor. "What do you want from me?"

"At this point, we need your cooperation and for you to come with us. We have very little time for childish behavior."

Dr. Harmon grabbed Andy's wrist, dragging her out of the record store. He pulled her out to a black Mercedes Benz and plopped her in the nearest available seat. Andy played with her tied back auburn hair, she did that when she was nervous. The doctor and the NASA employees were staring at her like she was diseased.

"Is this the girl?" one asked.

The others nodded in unison while staring right at Andy. Her converse suddenly became interesting and she stared at them instead of the scary men in the car. When things couldn't have gotten any worse, her father turned around from the passenger seat and began explaining things to her.

"Andy, we've gotten into one of the best projects of the year! As it turns out, an unidentified flying object crashed in an upstate New York town! Well, these nice men sitting with you followed the object and found the life form in it to be living! The life form is in the practice now!"

Andy rolled her eyes and waited for her father to tell her where she fit into the whole ridiculous mess. When he didn't tell her, and only gave here these excited smiles, Andy figured it was her job to ask the question.

"So, where do I fit into all of this?"

All the men, even the driver, laughed at her. "Well sweetheart, you will be housing the life form in your apartment! It doesn't look like anything from the movies. In fact, it speaks with a British accent."

"You guys are probably over thinking this. Maybe a pilot from London took a small plane over here and crashed upstate! What makes you think it's an alien and a UFO?"

The man from NASA in front of her handed her a plastic sandwich bag with a piece of metal in it. Andy took it and looked at it carefully. There were intricate designs adorning the metal with wires woven and connected together in the back.

"Our teams couldn't even build something as advanced as that. We don't have a clue what it's used for, but we know that no human being could have created this."

No sooner than the man said that, the group in the black Mercedes pulled into the private driveway that lead to the 'lab'. The gates swung open to reveal a huge eight story building and a parking lot filled with cars of all kinds. The sun beat down the cars' hood's, which gave off a glare so bright, that people without sunglasses couldn't see. Everyone put on sunglasses and hopped out of the expensive car. Andy was ushered into the building by some stand-by security guards who held her forearms tightly while entering the building.

"Ms. Parks, we have to take all precautions, please step over there. We have to have you finger printed, we need to take your picture for your ID, all jewelry must be removed, and your clothes have to be covered by scrubs." Dr. Harmon stated.

Andy followed Dr. Harmon to a table with a big ink pad and some official looking paper. He grabbed her wrist and then dipped each finger in the thick black ink. She watched as the doctor dipped both hands and then let her wash her them. When she came back from the bathroom, he took her picture by a white wall; profile and all. Her father came over with her ID and a plastic bag for her earrings, and Italian bull horn necklace. She was then put into scrubs and taken into the elevator.

"Andy, now please don't be frightened over what you see. He is just as scared as you were the first time you came, maybe more."

She nodded hoping not to see any blood or mistreatment like the first visit. The elevator doors opened to reveal a gray and white sterile room. There was glass everywhere. The room was splattered in medicines, and all of the tranquilizing needles were currently out of their place.

"Dad, what happened?"

"Well, Mr. Newton put up quite a fight before. But we took care of it."

Andy gave her father a puzzled look. "Mr. Newton? Who is that?"

"Ah, it seems I have been referring to Thomas as 'It' or 'life form', when really…he has a name. Thomas Jerome Newton. Quite a mouthful isn't it?"

Andy shook her head. All she knew was that her father had officially lost it. Andy and the group were lead down hallways by her father and then into an operating room. Five other doctors and eight nurses were scurrying around, fumbling with needles and surgical tools. Three of the five doctors and four of the eight nurses were surrounding the table with the 'alien' on it. All she could see was the powdery white skin of the 'life form' on the table. The nurses were injecting fluids  into the poor thing, and every time the needle hit the skin, the thing's muscle would tense up and you could hear a soft cry.

Andy pushed through the doctors, nurses, and NASA staff and stood by the table. What she saw was a lean, pale man with glossy orange and blonde hair. He looked like he was in excruciating pain. The nurse who was rather pushy, named Callie, pushed Andy aside and continued to inject medicines into him. Out came another cry. Andy pushed Callie away. She would push anyone away who tried to hurt Thomas more.

"Andy, don't touch him! He's an alien life form and should not be exposed to direct human contact!" Dr. Harmon screamed.

Andy ignored the gasps, snickers, and shouts that were thrown at her. She moved toward the man's head, put her hands on either side of his face, and stroked his cheek. His frosty blue eyes met her deep blue one and for a minute, Andy felt like she knew him through and through.

"Hi, I'm Andy. And you are?" she asked softy.

The man moved a little bit, and then said his name in a barely audible whisper.

"I'm Tommy Newton. Are you a doctor?"

Andy laughed. "No, more like the doctor's daughter. We'll get you out of here soon."

He scrunched up his face and then looked back up at Andy. " Where am I going to go?"

"You'll live with me."

It looked like he smiled briefly, and then he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The doctors and nurses then appeared again and told her it was time to leave. She gently patted his face again and then walked away and out of the room with the rest of the team. All Andy knew was, it wasn't going to be the last time she saw Tommy Newton.